Medical suction systems are used in hospital environments and particularly during various surgical procedures to drain bodily fluid from a patient. In general, medical suction systems employ a collection or suction canister and a vacuum source which enables bodily fluid to be drained from the patient. Each canister generally includes a receptacle for holding the bodily fluid, a lid with a suction port and a patient port, a suction conduit connecting the suction port to a hospital vacuum system, and a patient conduit for conveying the bodily fluid from the patient into the receptacle through the patient port. When the vacuum is applied to the suction conduit, a negative pressure gradient is created in the interior of the receptacle so that the bodily fluid is drawn from the patient and into the suction canister via the patient conduit. In order to prevent the bodily fluid from entering and contaminating the hospital vacuum system, a shutoff valve is normally used to close or block the suction port when the fluid within the canister rises to a predetermined level.
Conventional suction canisters are often disposable, which leads to increased hospital costs for the purchase of new canisters and increased hospital costs for the disposal of the canisters and their bodily fluid contents after use. Suction canisters can also be reusable. However, such reusable canisters must be cleaned by hospital employees, and the bodily fluid collected in suction canisters is considered hazardous and infectious waste. In recent years, it has become important in hospital environments to eliminate the handling and thus reduce employee exposure to bodily fluids. Currently, hospitals dispose of such bodily fluid in three ways. The fluid is either poured from the suction canister down the hospital sink, the fluid is incinerated in a hospital-owned and operated pathological incinerator, or expensive contracts are negotiated with a licensed hauler for the disposal of the fluid at an approved hazardous waste incinerator. In every case, hospital employees have to handle the bodily fluid. Spattering of the bodily fluid can result in hospital employees contacting the hazardous fluid and thus increasing the possibility of contacting HIV, Hepatitis B or other blood borne diseases.